It was a day of inspiration for employees who were honored during the 2013 Annual Awards Ceremony held at Roberts Chapel

on June 24, as Mercer University Men’s Basket-ball Head Coach Bob Hoffman shared his for-mula for success at work and in life. The Mercer Bears shocked the sports world during the 2014 NCAA Playoff Tournament by beating the nation-ally ranked, and heavily favored Duke University Blue Devils, but even more inspiring were the stories of dedication and selfless service of the Georgia Department of Corrections employees, award winners and nominees alike. This year’s ceremony saw the introduction of some new awards presented by the American Red Cross for the “Battle of the Badges” Compe-tition held at facilities around the state throughout the year. These awards, were another example of the dedicated service and sacrifice that GDC employees display on a regular basis. “Give all you’ve got, all the time” said Hoffman. “Your future is decided by your habits. Your hab-its are decided by your choices. You all choose to serve others everyday and that’s an amazing thing.”(For photos and names of the winners see page 2)

In This Issue

Pg. 2 -3Winners at the 2013 Annual

Awards!

Pg.4

Macon DRC GEARs Up!

“Ye Visited Me” prison ministry group visits Whitworth Women

Have a great story Idea?Send to

Lisa Rodriguez-Presley

rodril00@dcor.state.ga.us

July 2014 Newsletter

Facilities, employee excellence higlighted at GDC’s 10th Annual Awards Ceremony

Impact GeorgiaStory and Photos by Lisa Rodriguez Presley

Gainsville Joint Task Force helps clean up crimeStory By Stephanie Colwell

Mercer University Basketball Coach Bob Hoffman shares secrets to his success with the audience in Roberts Chapel at State Offices South at Tift College during the GDC 10th Annual Awards Ceremony on June 24.

Like the summer spike in temperature, Probation Officers from the Law-

renceville Probation Office teamed up with The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department and several local police de-partments last month to bring the heat down on those at-tempting to escape the law. In this operation running from June 11th-12th, Officers went in at 4:00 PM and worked well into the night focused on war-

rant service of all types, rang-ing from failure-to-appear to felony probation warrants, in addition to new charges. Over 100 dedicated Officers had two days to serve 204 warrants all over the Atlanta area. By the end of the opera-tion, the Joint Task Force had served 77 of those warrants, resulting in 59 individuals be-ing brought to justice.

“The outstanding results of this multi-agency warrant

sweep are a clear indication of how law enforcement agencies working together can accom-plish more in protecting and serving the public,” said Deputy Direct of Probation Operations Marcia McIntyre. “The efforts of these departments do not go unnoticed or unappreciated. We are proud of the part our of-ficers play in these operations and their dedication to meeting the mission of the Georgia De-partment of Corrections.”

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR

Burning Bush Ministries

Rev. Russell Gray

Cynseria Jenkins

Dottie Benson

Malachi Dads

Gene Deloach

Pat Quinn

Mike Hale

FAITH BASED CONTRIBUTORS OF THE YEAR

Word of Life Church

Stronghold Group of Brentwood, TN

First Impressions

The Refuge of Hope

PARTNER AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Cobb Anti Gang Enforcement (CAGE)

Georgia State Patrol Peer Support Team

Long County Sheriff’s Dept.

Ludowici – Long Co. Fire Department

Moultrie Parole Department

Cash Prosperity Campaign

Albany Police Department

Advantage Behavior Health Services

Telfair Co. Sheriff’s Office – Telfair State Prison

AMERICAN RED CROSS BATTLE OF THE BADGES

Largest One-day Blood Drive - GA State Prison

Largest Overall Collection - Wilcox State Prison

Battle of the Badges Traveling Trophy for most collected staff participation - Enotah Judicial

Circuit.

CORRECTIONAL OFFICER OF THE YEAR

Charles Stone – Patten Probation Detention Center

PROBATION OFFICER OF THE YEAR

Justin Ussery – Dahlonega Probation Office

FACILITY SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR

Jacob Beasley - Telfair State Prison

(AWARDS CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)

Friday, July 4Independence Day

**HOLIDAY**

Tuesday, July 10Military Career Fair

Moody Air Force BaseValdosta, GA

Tuesday, July 15Tifton DRC

Commencement Ceremony

Friday, July 18Corrections Family Day

Friday, July 24Military Career Fair

Fort StewartHinesville, GA

Tuesday, July 29GDC Quarterly Awards

Ceremony

Thursday, July 31Rouse DRC

Commencement Ceremony

Calendar Events

2

GDC 2013 Annual Awards Recipients

PROBATION SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR

Terra Taylor-Cochran – Americus Probation Office

CUSTOMER SERVICE CHAMPION AWARD

Sara Hilliard - Telfair State Prison

HEADQUARTERS EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR

Michael Tolson - CHRM (ESU)

EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR

Dewanda Brisco - Baldwin State Prison

INDIVIDUAL FITNESS AWARD

Eric Johnson - Douglasville Probation Office

THE CYNTHIA FLOYD AWARD

Jill Fischer - Cartersville Probation Office

THE BOBBY FRANKLIN AWARD

Hollis Brown - Augusta State Medical Prison

THE JAMES HENDERSON AWARD

Chris Reaves - Georgia State Prison

THE TIFFANY BISHOP HORIZON AWARD

Michael Langford - Gainsville Probation Office

LEGACY AWARD

J.M. “Bob” Plemmons - Board of Corrections

FACILITY & CIRCUIT AWARDS

Facility/Circuit Fitness Award

Phillips State Prison

Facility of the Year

Telfair State Prison

Center of the Year

Clayton Transitional Center

Probation Circuit of the Year

Northern Judicial Circuit

County Facility of the Year

Jackson County Prison

Congratulations to all of the award winners and

nominees!

3

GDC 2013 Annual Awards Recipients

It is not uncommon to hear of church ministry groups men-toring at local prisons. But

if you paid a visit to Whitworth Women’s Facility on Saturday May 26th, you might have been a little overwhelmed by the scene that greeted you. The inmates at Whitworth were visited by the volunteers of Ye Visited Me Ministries. The vi-sion of Pastors Larry and Faye Martin of Soul’s Harbor Church in Canton, Georgia, this minis-try travels around the Georgia prison system conducting what they call the “Day of Freedom”. When Whitworth was contacted by Prison Ministry Coordina-tor Anita Taylor to set up this event, Warden Brooks Benton welcomed them gladly, know-ing from prior experience at Lee Arrendale SP what a great day they had in store. More than 30 volunteers showed up Saturday morning with a dozen motorcycles and an old police car in tow. This was not your typical prison min-

istry group—they were bikers, complete with leather, tattoos, and for several of them, records of prior incarceration. The program began on a light note with entertainment such as music (live band), praise danc-ing, drama, motorcycles, pup-pets, and mimes, but as the day progressed the volunteers took on a more serious tone. Shar-ing testimonies of their histories with drug and alcohol abuse, in-carceration, physical and sexu-al abuse, loss, family strife, and even doing some one-on-one mentoring, the volunteers of Ye Visited Me Ministries were able to use their life experiences to help show 240 inmates of Whit-worth Women’s Facility the way to a brighter future. “The event was well received by the population,” commented Mark Martin, Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment at the facility. “It offered entertainment and an escape from the everyday routine of prison life. We plan to schedule them for a return next year.”

MISSIONThe Department of Corrections creates a safer Geor-gia by effectively managing offenders and providing

opportunities for positive change.

VISIONTo be recognized as the best corrections

organization in the nation.

BRIAN OWENSCommissioner

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Joan Heath Director

Gwendolyn Hogan Lisa Rodriguez-Presley Susan MegaheeManaging Editor Editor/PA Specialist PA Specialist

Stephanie Colwell Intern

Like us on Facebook Check out our YouTube channel at GACorrections Tweet us at @GA_Corrections

Around the Agency...

4

Ye Visited Me Prison Ministry group reaches out to Whitworth womenStory by Stephanie Colwell

GEAR up stands for Getting Excited About Recovery. On May 22, 2014, The Macon Day Reporting Cen-ter hosted a GEAR up Day for participants to learn

new ways of having positive, drug-free fun with peers. The Macon Day Reporting Center served grilled hotdogs, chips, and drinks to participants for lunch as they watched mov-ies, played board games, and mingled with one another to build cohesion and excitement about their path to Recovery. Stephanie Mooneyham, a representative from the local CSB (River Edge Behavioral Health Center), was present to of-fer information to participants about services offered at their agency. Mental Health is an area that is not embraced by ev-eryone due to stigmas and stereotypes. According to partici-pants, now they ‘know’ who they are sharing life experiences with inside of their substance abuse and cognitive therapy groups and are more likely to open up in classes. Another participant reported, “The River Edge representative helped me get an appointment. If she wasn’t here I would not have gotten one as fast.”

Macon DRC GEARs up

Content contributed by CPO Vicki Lee

July 24 Fort Stewarthinesville, GA

10 am - 2 pm

July 10 MOODY AIR FORCE BASE

VALDOSTA, GA10 am - 2 pm

upcoming military career fairs